On Steel Wings
by AngelaStarCat
Summary: DISCONTINUED. New Story Up. (rewrite)
1. Prologue

_'The Folly of Wizarding Tattoos'_

Daily Prophet March 1995

By Andrew Simmons

It's come to my attention that a few young fools have decided to restart the tradition of getting tattoos. It's a fad that reoccurs every few decades before some bright witch or wizard goes too far and scares everyone off the idea again. History has shown that any magical being who permanently inks anything into their skin is in for a, usually unpleasant, surprise.

What we have learned is relatively simple. If a wizard designs his own tattoo, and spells it on himself, the tattoo will do exactly as he wants it to… if he of course has the proper wandwork and pronounces everything specifically right. If he goes to the Ministry and gets a certified Magical Symbologist put the tattoo on, it will perform the magic he desires as well. However, you cannot simply turn the tattoo on or off. If you enchant your tattoo to move around your body, it will move no matter what. If you allow a dog tattoo to bark, it will bark whenever it wants. And magical tattoos have proven nearly impossible to remove. Simply cutting off the skin and using a re-growing potion will have the skin come back with the tattoo still prominent.

Magical Symbologist Jerry Klacker puts it this way: "When you ink a tattoo of any kind on your skin, it also tends to 'ink' itself on your magical core. Since it withdraws the magic to operate from your core itself, if you try to remove it, it will not leave unless you remove the magic it is drawing from…. In effect removing a portion of your magic".

This is a serious thing to consider when thinking about getting a tattoo. A few well known cases of Magical Tattoos gone wrong include Orion Decurus Lestrange in the early 1300's, who tattooed himself with black dragons that he intended to spit fire at enemies. However, the dragons instead set his clothing alight, and whoever came close enough were fair game for the pesky beasts. In the early 1900s famous Auror Grisle Falkonwore had an eye tattooed on the back of his neck so he could see enemies behind him. Unfortunately the mind was not made to have three eyes, and ever after he tended to stumble and stagger around, and soon was forcibly retired after accidently cursing Octavion Malfoy with a Balding Jinx instead of the coworker he was planning to prank. More recently, curse his name, the infamous You-Know-Who was known to force all his followers to receive his own magical tattoo that could allow them to teleport straight to his side, and if his Name were ever said in the presence of one who had the tattoo he would be able to listen in on anything that was said. And of course, in all the cases above the tattoos took up enough magic that removing them would result in immediate squib-hood.

But what about purely Muggle tattoos? If it is unenchanted, can it be easily removed? The answer is no. The few Wizards that have tried it have found it entirely unstable, and an even bigger risk then a purposefully enchanted tattoo. It seems, when a wizard gets a tattoo without it being applied with a spell and a purposeful intention, the magic of the recipient of the tattoo will spontaneously activate it. Mary Kiggler, bless her soul, who at the time was chaser for the Chudley Cannons, found this out when she went with her friends to get a small fire salamander tattoo on her shoulder in response to a lost bet. After waking up the day after getting the tattoo she felt a horrible burning sensation. Looking in the mirror, she saw that the salamander was dancing in fire that had not been tattooed there, and that the fire was actually burning her skin. After going to the hospital to be treated with the burns, and finding out that anytime it got dark the tattoo would again burst into the flames, she had to have it removed… and found to her horror that the loss of the magic that powered the tattoo took away her ability to fly on a broom.

As you can see, it is complete folly for any wizard or witch to get a tattoo of any kind. When looking at more unpleasant examples, Frederick Virefrock… (Cont. on Pg. 7b)

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	2. Not a Dishwasher

So here is my first story I've ever bothered to type up. I'm an avid reader of just about anything fantasy related, and Harry Potter fan fiction are my favorite. I've been disappointed with the amount of stores related to magical tattoos, and so I spontaneously decided this morning to write my own.

This is a prequel of sorts, to cover the time before Harry goes to Hogwarts. It will skip around, and the chapters will be short but many.

Disclaimer: If I owned it, I wouldn't be putting this here. I'd be publishing it for tons of money.

* * *

An excerpt from "Memorable Muggle Mornings: the Undercover Wizard."

_"Today, at exactly six oclock a.m., I rose and made some tea. My lovely cat, Purniskus, purred for some milk which I graciously granted her. The Muggle life is so peaceful! No clattering pots spellbound whisking about the room, no hoity toity Wizarding owls swooping in at all times of day. I miss cleaning spells the most, but with me alone not much mess is made. If one is careful, as I am of course! You can go complete weeks without lifting a cleaning finger, and such wonderful devices these Muggles have made to clean for you! Have you ever heard of a dishwasher? Wonderful Invention! Came from America in the…"_

* * *

A young black haired boy watched silently through the slats in the cupboard door as two men cam stomping heavily in holding a big cardboard box between them. His uncle has been very specific: "Stay silent, and _NO FUNNY BUSINESS_!" before slamming and bolting the small door.

His family, The Dursleys, consisted of his Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and their son Dudley. He just called them Uncle and Aunt and sir and ma'am and Dudley, and knew enough to stay out of their way. He wasn't normal, and his Uncle often just called him freak, because he was different from them. He was different because his parents had died when he was a baby, and they were taking him in from the kindness of their hearts, and sometimes he would wish really hard and things would happen. Things that normally warranted a good thrashing from his Uncle and shrieks from his Aunt.

Which brought him to the men coming back and forth outside of his door. Last week he had been cleaning the kitchen floor when his cousin Dudley had purposefully shoved him into the table, and his arm had turned bad and hurt a lot. Right when he felt the pain there was this loud shattering noise and the smell of smoke, and when his Aunt came running in she saw her poor son huddled on the floor, with every dish in the cabinets shattered and smoke coming from all the appliances.

His Uncle had been furious. He had been expecting to purchase a new car soon, and fixing the damage was going to set him back by months. Since then his cousin hadn't come near him, a good thing, but He was worried. His Uncle hadn't even touched him since the accident, and he had no idea what was going to happen.

* * *

The men left the house with a cheerful farewell several hours later, and his Uncle came over and unlatched his door and dragged him out by the arm.

"Go clean the Kitchen, and be quick about it!" His Uncle snarled before stomping into the Living Room.

Harry trudged over to the kitchen, looking over the dust and boxes and slowly began cleaning, favoring his sore left arm. The cabinets were fixed, and a nice new stove and dishwasher were gleaming in their spots. He moved the boxes they had come in over to the side while he swept the floor and counters, then carefully peaked out into the Living Room at his Uncle.

"Sir, I'm finished, sir." Harry spoke carefully. His Uncle looked up, then an odd smile spread across his face. He stomped into the kitchen, looked around, and grabbed the box the dishwasher had come in and put it by the back door.

"Well, freak, I bet you've been wondering why you haven't been punished yet for your little stunt. Your Aunt and I have decided we've had enough of you and your freakiness, and we've found a women who wants someone to clean her house for her. That's about all your good for, and shes going to pay us nicely. Now I don't want anyone to see you, weird looking as you are and respectable people we are, might give the neighbors bad ideas. Get in that box!" He snapped out the last bit and kicked his foot towards Harry, who quickly scampered into the large dishwasher box only to have it closed and sealed over his head.

He was no stranger to small dark places; having grew up in the cupboard under the stairs… and the idea of leaving the Dursleys gave him a warm feeling. Maybe this new woman would be nice, and have cookies like Mrs. Figg across the street. He might even get a room of his own!

It was with only a small bit of trepidation that he felt the box being dragged over to the car.

"Hi Mr. Dursley! You get a new dishwasher? I heard that new model over at Blake's was very nice. You need any help?" The voice came from the right, where their neighbor at Number 5 lived.

"Hmh, umph, well, a little help getting this into the back would be nice, Its heavier then I expected! Put some old beaten-in pots in here to carry them over to the dump." His Uncle sounded slightly nervous.

He felt himself suddenly elevated then fell over as he was pushed forward roughly into the back of the car. Then there was a slam, some muffled voices, and he felt the car moving forward. He couldn't help but be happy to be leaving his childhood home. Never once did he think his Uncle was lying, or consider the legality of giving a child away.

* * *

When the car suddenly braked and came to a halt, Harry had been drifting off to sleep. He heard the trunk open, and was in no way prepared for a sudden drop and the pain of hitting hard pavement. He dizzily listened as the trunk was closed, but instead of the flap being opened he instead heard tires squeal as a car sped off. He beat on the side of the box, his soft calls soon turning into frenzied yells. He scratched and pulled at the cardboard and beat at the top, but it was completely sealed shut. Where was he? Was he going to die? What happened? Harry's voice had turned hoarse and was barely over a whisper when he heard sounds outside.

"Hey, look, some new boxes!" "Really?" "Hey, stop it!" "Guys come back, we aint gotta go scruffing through boxes anymore!" "But we might get something good, and something extra cant hurt!" The last voice was very close, and in excitement Harry rammed the side of the box and beat the sides.

"There something in here!" "Yeah I heard it!" "Open it!" "Maybe it's a dog!" "Hurry Up!" Tearing sounds came from the Box, and sudden light blinded Harry who quickly ducked down and covered his head.

"Woah!" "Let me see!" "It's a kid!" "A Baby?" "No, He's little though…." "Wow…" "What should we do?" "Get out of the way, let me see!" "That is not a dishwasher..." Harry slowly cracked open his eyes, and squinted up at several dark blobs over his head.

"Um, Hi. Um, where, where am I?"

* * *

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	3. Taking in Strays

Reviewers are Greatly appreciated. Any feedback is wonderful; especially since this is the first time I've written anything. So thank you very much MistressRukia13 and amongstheliving, you two are my first ever reviewers and I'm glad you like it so far!

Disclaimer: If I owned it, I wouldn't be putting this here. I'd be publishing it for tons of money.

* * *

An excerpt from "Memorable Muggle Mornings: the Undercover Wizard."

_"It was as I was taking my customary walk about town that I first came across a small stray cat. It was quite pathetic looking, with not a hint of Kneazle anywhere about it. Stunted looking with a crooked tail and dusty grey fur matted all over it, I couldn't help but have be revolted and charmed at the same time by its rustic and muggleish appearance. Not a thing magical a bout it, not even a twinkle in its eye. Of course I had wondered how Muggles take care or nonmagical pets, and decided to immediately take it home and start putting it to rights again. However, I would never have expected the trouble one small pathetic looking stray could get into."_

* * *

It was a confused and lost Harry Potter who looked around him when he was helped out of the dishwasher box. There were buildings taller then houses to either side of him, and trash was littered all over the ground. Not a patch of grass or suburban houses in sight. He'd never seen the likes of it. This was London? Seemed to be a very dirty place. Aunt Petunia would have him cleaning straight away!

"You ok?" This came from a sandy haired boy with a kind face. He was the one who had told him he was in downtown London, in a back alley that usually was only frequented by homeless people who were looking for food or valuables through the trash that was sometimes dumped in the vicinity.

"I'm alright. Does a lady live near here? I'm supposed to be going to help a lady."

"What, and your supposed to be delivered in a appliance box?" The comment practically dripped in sarcasm and came from a mean faced boy who looked older then the others.

"Stop that, Mike. Do you know her name?" The sandy haired boy asked. As Harry began to shake his head and speak, Mike interrupted.

"Your so stupid, you don't actually believe you were going to some woman did you? You were probably dumped here like most other people, probably for being so stupid…"

"Mike! I said stop it." Sandy Hair growled, then turned to Harry with pity in his eyes.

"My name is Kerr, I'm seventeen. That over there is Mike, hes sixteen" He glared at the boy then turned and pointed at a boy who looked about ten years old and had blond hair "That is Tiny, hes the youngest of our gang at only eleven years old" He then turned and pointed at the last boy who had his hands in his pockets and was looking at the ground "And that over there is Rick, he doesn't talk a lot We think hes fifteen or sixteen but he doesn't really know. What is your name?" Before Harry could answer he quickly asked again "And how old are you?"

"I turned eight last month" Harry answered softly, feeling outnumbered by the boys and very intimidated by their appearance and especially Mikes attitude.

"And your name, baby?" Mike spit out with a sneer.

"Harry" he mumbled quickly, looking away.

"Whatd you call me? You little…" "Stop it!" Kerr ordered. "He said his name was Harry." At that Tiny sniggered and Mike just smirked. "He doesn't look harry to me. They should of named him Skinny." Kerr glared at him then sighed and bended down in front of Harry. "Look, whoever dropped you off here, we can help you find them..."

"Will not!" Mike grumbled

"…. Or you can come and stay with..."

" He is _NOT_ staying with us! He is too little!" This came oddly enough from the silent Rick. " We have enough trouble with Tiny. This kid is too little to pull his own weight, and he cant beg cause he'll just get toted off by Child Services like Jenney did." At that Rick crossed his arms and stuck his lip out.

Kerr looked at Rick then over at Mike, before finally looking at Harry. "He's right, and you'll be better off with the 'Services anyway, and who knows you might even get a nice foster family…" "Phsssh whatever, don't go giving him any silver lining. We all know that wont happen!" Mike quickly interjected.

At that Harry spoke up quickly, "I can help!"

"And how will you do that, Skinny?" Mike asked sarcastically.

"I can run very fast! And climb trees and get into small places…" Kerr, who was slowly shaking his head, interrupted Harry. "We aren't exactly thieves or anything, mugging people and all that. We just deliver messages and spy on people and sometimes we make distractions for them. In return we get food and shelter. I guess running could come in handy, but I doubt you could run any faster then Tiny there, with you being so little. Problem is, a really little kid could get into trouble we cant get them out of, or get taken by 'Services which might make them do another sweep of this area." At that Kerr shook his head decidedly. "We will take you home, or to someplace the police will pick you up."

Harry didn't like the thought of returning to the Dursleys, or of going to some family called "Foster" who was just as mean and bad. "Please? Can I at least try? And if I mess up then you can send me away, and I'll tell them that I got lost and never mention you or your friends."

Both Rick and Mike looked like they didn't like the idea at all, and Tiny just shrugged his shoulders. Kerr looked skeptical. Harry then blurted out "I'll race you, and if I win you will let me stay!" At that Mike laughed and said "We will, will we? Yeah right!"

"Okay." Kerr said, and immediately Mike and Rick started bickering "We cant!" "Too young!" "What are you thinking?"

"Look, I don't think he can do it. But if by some miracle he does, then he will come in handy. And also, Mike, if I remember right you couldn't of been much older then him when we met. You turned out fine." Kerr spoke, before turning to Harry and nodding towards Rick. "You can race Rick. He's faster than Tiny and me. Mike is the fastest, so you two will follow him for as long as you can, we will see if you can keep up."

"And Mike… don't try anything. Lead them the long way to Mr. Steel, and Tiny and me will meet you there. I expect young Harry here to not be seriously damaged." At that Kerr smiled at Harry. "You ready?"

Harry shook out his arms and froze for a second, before nodding an affirmative. Before he'd even finished Mike shot of with Rick on his tail. Harry blinked, and then ran after them.

* * *

Harry was tired. His legs felt numb and his arm was hurting fiercely. Mike had immediately rounded the corner then bolted across the street, and a cab had almost hit Harry when he followed. Things got worse from there. They'd dashed through alleys almost too small to pass through, climbed over dumpsters and at one point Mike had knocked over a bunch of plastic crates that Harry and Rick had to push through. It hadn't been easy and it felt like he'd been running for hours. Mike was nowhere in sight, and Harry was seconds behind Rick who had just turned a corner.

As Harry ran around the corner he stopped in amazement. It was a dead end! For a minute Harry just stared before he heard a banging overhead and looked up to see Mike and Rick grinning down at him before their heads disappeared over the roof. He could hear them snickering. Then he saw the small black ladder to his left and immediately ran over and began climbing. He felt almost sick with defeat. Was this even worth it? Did he want to join these, these, cruel people? Could he even hope to catch up?

When he reached the top and raced over to the other side he saw that someone had rigged some boards at an incline between the building he was at and another roof. It was a steep slope and Harry could already see the boys ahead climbing down a ladder on the other building. He only thought for a second before he jumped onto the boards and rushed down the wobbly surface. His legs were trembling even more when he started down the other ladder, and his arm seemed made up of pure pain. It was only when he reached the bottom that he realized he had no idea which direction the others had went.

For the first time since he had destroyed the Dursleys kitchen he felt tears run down his face. This was it, and now they wouldn't even help him at all. They would just abandon him here, in the middle of London, even more lost then he had been before. Harry felt a breeze whip through his hair, and a loud popping noise caused him to whip his eyes open again.

What he saw shocked him. Only a pace ahead Mike and  
Rick had their heads together laughing, and right across the street was a small store called "Steel's Custom Furniture". Without a second thought to how he could have gotten here he snuck around the boys and took off towards the store.

* * *

"Hey!" "That's him!" "Run!" Harry heard the shouts behind him and ran as fast as he could, throwing himself forward with all he had. He jerked open the store door just as a hand grabbed him by the shoulder and shoved him out of the way. As he fell to his knees he was greeted with the sight of Kerr and Tiny standing beside a frail stooped man with white hair. Kerr smiled triumphantly at him.

"He cheated!" Mike exclaimed. "There is no way he could of beaten me here! Its impossible!"

"Yes, it is quite impossible that he cheated. A lost boy left in London somehow found his way to MY shop all by himself? Hm hm quite impossible. He must have followed you, and raced forward when he saw the sign. Hm hm. " The old man spoke chuckling before motioning Harry forward. "I am Mr. Steel, and these boys here are the steel wings that bear me in flight and harm my enemies!"

Kerr rolled his eyes "Don't mind the old man's poetry. We are his delivery boys. His "Unofficial" ones." Kerr then smiled at Harry. "If you do as well as you did today, you might just get to wear our name as well. We call ourselves the Steel Wings. It comes from a poem of the same name."

"Which I've never bothered to read" Mumbled Mike sullenly. "And how is this fair? Hes still little! And who is going to teach him anything?"

"All in time, all in time. Take my new feather up to the loft; give him some food… hm, hm, and only a little bit. Let him sleep until morning. I've got good work for my wings tonight." Mr. Steel smiled.

* * *

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	4. Nuisance

**_Reviewers are Greatly appreciated!_** Thank you **IfyourHeartWearsThin** and especially **amongstheliving** for reviewing, it keeps me going to know that people like this story and want it continued!

Disclaimer: If I owned it, I wouldn't be putting this here. I'd be publishing it for tons of money.

* * *

Two excerpts from "Memorable Muggle Mornings: the Undercover Wizard."

_"It has chewed my shoes. It has shredded the curtains. It has peed and pooped and is in every way disgraceful. I came closer to using a spell then I have since starting this little experiment. I have to buy it food, and I had to take it to this Muggle animal nurse called a "Vet". They then stuck needles into it (looking highly painful) and several other things that I dare not mention for shuddering. It has no redeeming values and I am quite certain I will need to dispose of it somehow._

(One week later)

_I was sitting in my favorite chair after a long day of strenuous Muggle yard work called "Weeding" when I heard that dreaded meow. Certain it was up to some act of mischief I prepared to get up when the thing jumped straight into my lap! At first I thought it was growling and prepared myself for attack… and then it curled up and I realized it was purring! Such a loud purr it was. I've decided to call it Purniskus. _

_

* * *

_

"He has done it again! And I am not fixing it up this time!" Mikes voice yelled madly as he ran down the stairs and glared at Kerr, who was behind the desk watching the shop for any customers that might come in. He was followed by a glum Harry.

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't see it very well!" Harry replied to Kerr's questioning look.

"It was two freaking feet from your front nose, Skinny, what'cha mean you couldn't see it?" Mike crossed his arms. "I've shown you a million times, the wooden bar has to nailed straight across the penciled line or the chair won't hold! And to make it worse, this is the third time you've ruined an order because you can't follow simple directions!"

Harry looked pleadingly at both Kerr and Mike. "I swear I couldn't see it! It needs to be darker or something, there wasn't a line there I swear! I promise, go look for yourself!"

Kerr frowned and turned to Mike, who angrily shook his head "I double checked, the pencil was there clear as day. And it has to be something easy to cover up when we stain the wood so we cant mark it with freaking markers."

"It wasn't….!" Kerr interrupted Harry before he could finish. "I believe you when you say you didn't see it. I've been wondering ever since you tripped right over that stool, and the fact that you have to hold any written instructions inches from your face. Have you ever been to an eye Doctor?" As Harry shook his head Kerr continued. "Well that explains it then. I'm not sure how we can get you into one without questions being asked though, and those doctors don' come cheap. I'll speak to the Mister for you tonight. Mike, go back up there and redo that chair, its got to be done by Saturday and Mrs. Hopkins's table set hasn't even been started. Give Harry something to do that doesn't require excellent eye sight."

Mike grumbled and ushered a worried Harry back up the stairs. "I knew you'd be trouble Skinny, and now your blind too!"

* * *

Harry sat in a corner desk and quietly rubbed redwood stain into a newly completed chair. Yesterday marked his first week staying with the Steel Wings, and it hadn't gone smoothly. Though he had followed all the directions he had been given, and even cooked once when it was his turn (which all the boys, even Mike, had admitted that the food was very good) He still kept making stupid mistakes when it came to putting the simple parts of wood together.

The 'Wings lived in a loft on the third story above old Mr. Steel's (affectionately called 'Mister' by the boys) furniture shop. The second floor was a workroom station for making custom furniture and renovating old antiques.

Kerr, Mike, and Rick were legally Mr. Steel's employees and were the only ones paid a small salary other than the simple food and place to live. What the 'Wings did at night Harry still didn't know the details of, and the odd errands Mr. Steel sent them off on at random times during the day was a complete mystery.

Harry and Tiny were usually kept out of sight of any passer-bys, and weren't allowed down stairs unless it was checked first. If they were caught here Mr. Steel could get in trouble for harboring runaways without reporting it to the police. Tiny sometimes got to go with the older boys, especially at night. He had heard Rick say to Tiny that he was a "Fast Thinker" the other morning, and Tiny had walked around beaming the whole day.

Last night Tiny had confided in Harry that once Harry was accepted as "one of them" he could get their gang sign, which was two steel wings inked onto their shoulder blades. But when Harry asked to see Tiny's, the boy had refused, and pretended to go to sleep when he insisted. 'Probably doesn't even have one' he muttered under his breath.

"What's that, Skinny? Lamenting your blindness?" This came from a smirking Rick as he entered the room and sauntered over to a table and sat down. Harry was about to snap back before he reconsidered.

"Rick, is it true that all you guys have tattoos? Did they hurt a lot?"

Rick smirked and nodded. "Yep, you get one wing after your first successful solo assignment, and your second once Mister considers you to be a good asset to our team. In other words, when you start getting paid." He leaned back in the chair. "And it didn't hurt at all."

"Liar" This came from Kerr and he walked in. " If I remember right you cried like a baby the whole time." "Did not!" The two jostled a bit in fun before Kerr backed off and looked serious. "The shop is closed, and Mister will be here any time. I need you to go get Mike, for some reason he isn't back yet from delivering those packages." Rick nodded and quickly got up and left the room.

Kerr took his seat and sat down facing Harry. "The tattoos, no matter what anyone says, are very serious to us. It means you're with us for good, and that we are with you as well, through thick and thin. You're pretty smart, for a kid, and you have a way of remembering things after only one time learning it. But you're going to have to be something special if you want to stick with us long-term. We've had a few people get the first wing and then leave. We've had even fewer people get both and then leave us. But we have had many boys, and even a few girls, who don't even try, or they just don't have the talent for our line of work. I think you might have what it takes, and that's why you're here."

Harry nodded, then asked curiously "What happened to those who earned both wings? Why would they ever leave?" Kerr smiled. "Once you are part of us, you never really leave. Occasionally they come back for a special job or two, or just to visit. Mr. Steel considers us all his family, him never being able to have a family with his wife dying so young and all. As for why people leave, well. Most don't stick around once they reach eighteen and don't need Misters protection anymore. They go to other better paying jobs, get girlfriends, some even try and go to college. I don't think we've ever had over five boys here at one time before. When one leaves we look out for another recruit, but we don't actively seek any. I'm the oldest here at the moment, Clyde left after he asked a girl to marry him a year back. He was 32."

"Wow! How long was he in Steel Wings? How long have YOU been in Steel Wings?" Harry exclaimed quickly.

"He was with us since he was 13, and was one of the first boys Mr. Steel took in after finding he needed some… younger help. That was before we were even called 'Steel Wings'. I've been here since I was your age, eight. I earned my first wing within only a month, but didn't get my second till I was 15."

As Harry was about to eagerly ask more questions, there was the sound of feet running up the stairs and Tiny peeked in and told Kerr. "Mister is here, said he read your note and wants to talk with you… privately." Tiny said the last while looking pointedly at Harry who had been about to follow Kerr down the stairs.

Harry tried to shrug it off and go sit back down nonchalantly, but inside he was a ball of nerves. Would Mr. Steel not want him anymore since he might need glasses? Would he even get the chance to go to a Doctor? He didn't have any money, and he seriously doubted any of the other boys would lend him some from their personal savings so he could afford glasses.

* * *

About an hour later Harry finished with his work for the day and trudged up to his temporary room he shared with Tiny. He sat on his bed and had no idea what to do with himself. He had already found that there wasn't much to do here besides work. He had saw that Tiny and Mike both had schoolbooks to work on that Mr. Steel had given them. Apparently, once you'd been accepted into the gang you got home-schooled, or something of that nature.

When he'd mentioned it to Rick he had vaguely mumbled that "Mister don't want no dummies in his house" or something along that nature. Harry wondered if the fact that he hadn't been told anything about it was a sign that they weren't going to let him stay around.

He wasn't even sure if he should stay anyway. No one but Kerr and maybe Tiny seemed to like him, and he'd never even talked once to Mr. Steel. He'd gathered that there were other groups in the area willing to harbor 'strays' for a certain price.

There was a brief knock on the door, and then Tiny sauntered in and motioned to Harry. "Alright, come on, Mister wants to talk to you."

Harry followed Tiny down to the bottom floor, and after crossing through the shop entered a door along the side wall. He had never been through here before, and had been told to not go in there and bother Mr. Steel, so he had assumed that this must be where he lived. His assumption was right.

All along both sides of the room were shelves and shelves of books, floor to ceiling. Various dusty gadgets rested on shelves and Harry could even see what looked like a telescope with a long tube attached to the end.

"Hurry Up!" Tiny whispered before continuing on through the Library-like room and into another room cluttered with papers and old computer equipment. Behind a desk in the right corner sat Mr. Steel, and across from him Kerr sat in a comfy looking chair.

There was an empty chair beside him, and Kerr motioned him to sit down. Harry noticed another two doors at the other end of the office, but before he could really look through the one open door Mr. Steel spoke.

"Read off this third line of letters for me Harry. Off this sheet." Mr. Steel held up a sheet of paper with various sizes of letters on it, ranging from a huge letter E to some very fine print at the bottom. He squinted hard at the third line.

"Um, A, C, U G, um, ah, F, S." He stuttered over a few letters but thought he had gotten them right.

"Very good, very good. Now how about this bottom line? Line seven?" When Mr. Steel pointed at it with his hand, Harry tried his best, but there was no way. He could barely even tell they were letters as they blurred together.

"I'm sorry, Sir, I can't really tell… I think that's a G, and ah maybe a R? Ah, I…." Harry felt himself turning bright red as he struggled to see what was only a few feet in front of him.

"That's enough, Harry. I can see the issue, and it appears you're near-sighted. Now, we can't just go out and buy you a pair of glasses. No, no, you will need a prescription." Mr. Steel sighed. "Now, Harry, how have you liked it with us so far? Getting along good with the boys?" At Harry's quick nod yes he continued.

"Well, I've been talking with Kerr here, and both of us like your gumption. You've never once complained about anything, and you learn fast. This glasses thing, well, we can work around that for now. Perhaps, if your first assignment goes well we can work out a bargain to cover the price of the…."

Before Mr. Steel has finished Harry has blurted out "First assignment? So you're not kicking me out?" He immediately turned even more red and hunched down in the chair when he realized he has interrupted the boss.

Mr. Steel only laughed. "Of course not! Why, I have glasses myself don't I? And don't go thinking that's just cause I'm old, I've had these since I was a little lad, only a little older then you." He smiled. " Kerr is going to explain to you a bit of this business we have going on, behind closed doors so to speak. You listen well and do as he says and you'll be a pro in no time. " He winked then shooed them out of his office.

Harry felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. With a lighter step he followed Kerr back up the stairs. He couldn't wait to finally figure out what it was exactly that this group of boys did.

* * *

A9F01D52-0664-16E7-6640-89D301B4BA00

1.02.28


	5. Muggle Magic

Reviewers are Greatly appreciated! Thank you IfyourHeartWearsThin, momocolady, amongstheliving, and jacann for leaving your comments. I'm glad to know you like this story!

Disclaimer: If I owned it, I wouldn't be putting this here. I'd be publishing it for tons of money.

* * *

Excerpt from "Memorable Muggle Mornings: the Undercover Wizard."

It is odd how the Muggle culture, while so different from ours, is almost a perfect mirror when it comes to certain things. Take communication, for instance. Both Muggles and wizards have a slow means of communication: Ours by owl, theirs by personal delivery of other Muggles, usually by these fast box things (how they move is somewhat of a mystery to me still). In both of our cultures you can pay more for faster delivery (our hawk is their aero-plane).

When it comes to instantaneous communication though, I can't help but think they have us matched, or perhaps even surpass us. While we must hurry to a fireplace and hope the person we wish to contact is near their registered fireplace, they merely pull out this small hand sized device called a tale-phone, or "cellular-phone". The person they wish to contact would also have this device (in fact, nearly every Muggle I see carries one around, even the children!) and they speak through it to the other person! Truly amazing technology. Upon further research at a local Muggle library, I read that they utilize "radio" waves, which sounds much like our own Wizarding echo spells we utilize for our own Wizarding radios, which of course opens another train of thought… are Muggles using magic? And if so, perhaps an even scarier thought: can their technology discover us?"

* * *

Kerr lead Harry into an upstairs room, where Mike, Rick, and Tiny were all sitting down. He gave them a nod, smiling, to which Mike and Rick looked highly annoyed.

"He stays?"

"Yes" Kerr answered Mike, and then turned to Harry.

"So now its time for you to know what it is we are doing here."

Harry fidgeted a bit, dying to ask questions already. Kerr began what promised to be a long story.

* * *

Mr. Steel had, in the early days after his wife had passed away, encountered an odd and most unusual phenomenon. Being the philosophical sort needing a distraction, and curious enough for a room full of cats, he had noticed that, while waiting at his usual bus stop, certain people would seem to enter a back alley, while others never noticed the alley at all. Over several days, he also saw that all the people who entered the alley wore long, dress like thick robes, and tended to wear the funniest pointed hats.

One day, he made up his mind to approach this alley. Right as he stepped on the curve, his caught a glimpse of an odd, dinky looking pub…. And then he was in his kitchen drinking tea. He distinctly remembered deciding abruptly that he wanted tea, and had walked all the way home. The next day, he tried again to enter the alley, only to once more get a strong desire for afternoon tea. It didn't take a third attempt to realize that something mysterious was up. He continued his experiments: how close could he get before he wanted tea? Could he go from the side? What about the store next to the alley?

It was then, as he was performing another such experiment, when he saw one of the funny dressed people drop a newspaper. Curious to see what it was, he swiped the newspaper and quickly walked home. What he saw shocked him. The pictures appeared to be moving! He could find no scientific explanation, and together with one of his colleagues whom he shared the story with they began to search for more suck off articles. He also began to write down all the experiments he had performed, and a detailed observation of the newspaper artifact, including the articles it contained. And such articles! Talking about things that didn't exist like dragons and wands and magic… it must be some sort of code! He wrote down everything, even drew a few sketches, and it was this that saved him from being sure he was mad.

One day he came home, feeling slightly out of sorts and a tad lost. He couldn't quite remember what he had done that day, only that he "knew" it had been "normal". It was odd enough to his organized mind that this had happened: even more odd was a journal he couldn't quite remember opened on his desk… and it was filled with his handwriting! After reading the journal he was shocked to see all these things he did not remember doing: the alley, the newspaper (which he later found was missing from his coat pocket) and the last entry he had written had been a hurried explanation that he was heading to a particular bookstore that might contain more clues about these mysterious people. He immediately contacted his colleague, found that his memory too must have been altered: and that was when he came to his conclusion.

Some group, perhaps even from the government, possessed some sort of science that they were hiding from the citizens of Britain and even the world: and it was his duty to expose them! Such technology that was casually mentioned in the newspaper would help many people in their daily lives. This underground group had their own society that they selfishly hid from everyone else, and if the government didn't know about it, well, he would make sure they did! Why, did they even pay taxes?

His questions went on and on, and he couldn't help but wonder how much research he might of lost that he hadn't bothered to right down in his journal. That was when, almost exactly a year after his discovery of the newspaper, he decided to get help. He needed someone most people wouldn't pay attention to, and that no body would be looking for. Someone who would work closely with him to find these people, discover their secret, and tell the world about their existence.

His obvious choice was homeless people who needed a place to stay, and in particular, children. He told himself his wife would be proud of him for taking them in anyways, and that it was only natural to ask a little help in return with his research.

* * *

"So what do you do then?" Harry blurted as Kerr stopped his story to get a glass of soda.

Mike and Rick shushed him and Harry squirmed. Something about this story… about these people, in particular, seemed almost…. familiar.

Kerr continued.

* * *

The first few people Mr. Steel had helping him with his research were useless. They didn't believe him at the best of times (since his one shred of proof, the newspaper, was gone) and actively argued with him and thought he needed help at the worst. Mr. Steel eventually found that it was easier to start with younger kids, below the age of twelve, who also hadn't been on the streets very long and were open to new ideas. It was one such kid who found the next big discovery.

It happened more then ten years ago. Clyde was a small boy for his age, but quick and clever. He also had a knack for getting out of trouble. One such day, as he was looking going through some trash bins behind a shop that was on their "Suspicious activity list" a tall, black haired man came sweeping out of the shop.

"You there! What are you doing?"

Clyde did exactly what any kid would do. He ran.

"Stop!" There was a swooshing noise, and an odd ball of red colored light smacked the wall to his left. He glanced back quickly, saw the man holding a short stick… then scampered through an alley and ducked under a trashcan.

"Did you find him?" this was another voice, and he couldn't see who is was from where he was hiding.

"No. Little Muggle was too fast." The voice was close, very close. Clyde held his breath.

"Ah well. We need to move again anyway. Did you find anything for the Dark Lord?"

"No. The rumor most defiantly was contrived. All there was were a few books on basic herbology and magical creatures. Nothing at all useful about how to create magical creatures like Rasils. We will need to look deeper." There was a thump above Clyde, like a package was cast down.

"Incendio! Lets try the next one. Point three, the blue X." With the last word there was a loud cracking noise then nothing. Ever since the weird Indindy word Clyde had begun feeling oppressive heat. Suddenly smelling burnt paper he darted out from under the bin and looked quickly around. They were gone! He turned behind him. There were several books burning in the bin, and without thinking much further he darted in and tried to pull several from the flames. He managed to salvage two books. Their titles read: "1001 Reasons to Harvest Magical Herbs" and "The Most Dangerous and Valuable Magical Creatures."

The books, after close study and recopying by Mr. Steel, began to change his idea a bit about the identity and motives of these odd people. First, they called themselves "Wizards", and the weird guns "Wands." These code words seemed so obvious, it was no wonder people thought they didn't exist, they seemed like something from a children's book!

Another theory of the motive to these people also began to take root in Mr. Steels mind. After realizing the extent of the cover-up, how whole species of plants and animals were being hidden from the public… and that most of these plants and animals had properties to them that could cure almost any ailment and perform most wonderful effects… it must be money and greed! Why, these people had at their fingertips plants whose leaves could help heal broken bones in a matter of minutes! Imagine how much people would pay for such "potions"?

The more Mr. Steel thought about it the more it made sense, and the more determined he was to bring them to justice.

* * *

Kerr paused, then smiled at Harry. "I know this sounds far fetched, and downright odd. Let me show you our collection." He got up and the others followed him into another room, to a door Harry had barely noticed, it was almost hidden behind a corner of a bookshelf and table. Tiny was practically bouncing. Harry entered the room, and felt his eyes widen.

The room was full of shelves and shelves of weird devices and books. Some of the devices did impossible things, like shine without any source of light, or change suddenly into totally different objects. Some were locked in steel cages, which they occasionally banged against as if trying to escape. There were pictures on one space of wall, and in every one… the people and animals moved!

"Pretty amazing isn't it?" Kerr laughed. "We've came a long way since those first books. With every discovery we learn more about these people, and it becomes easier to find artifacts. I myself found one of the more useful ones, it was how I earned my first wing." Kerr reached out and pulled a book off the shelf, then handed it to Harry.

"Before you can help us keep looking for more information and items you need to learn about these people. Read their books, we have almost thirty here now. Also, you need to study the maps we have made of London, and where we have found items and where known Wizard locations are. Don't forget about what happened to Mr. Steel. If you get caught, you wont even remember it, and it could lead them back to us. In all this time, only once more have they caught us, but we were lucky… we had made copies of what they took form us, and the items they recovered were not our true treasures."

"So these here" Harry pointed around "We have even more?"

"Yep. But you can start with these. Maybe once you've been with us a while, once you learn some stuff, we can show you were the really hardcore technology they've created is. Don't feel bad, Tiny here hasn't seen it yet either." Kerr said after seeing Harrys down expression.

Tiny nodded and smirked. "But I will see it soon!"

Mike laughed and playfully bumped into Tiny. "You sure will if you keep it up. He found some cool stuff last week that we are still looking over, trying to see what it is. One thing we've also learned is to be careful. Some of the items, well, they are dangerous. They can hurt you in the most painful ways." For a second Mike glanced over at Rick, who looked haunted.

Harry felt as if his head was spinning at all this new information, that there was a world out there he never knew about… and yet….

"Hey, skinny, you going deaf too? Come on!" Mike growled at Harry and he realized that the others had been filing out of the room and back towards the dining room. His stomach growled and he reflected that he could start reading the book after dinner. He glanced at the title. "Wizarding Society: Seven hundred and Seventy Seven Ways to Fulfill Your Dreams."

* * *

Please Review and tell me what you think, and any tips you may have!


	6. Excuses, Excuses

**Chapter 5**

Reviews greatly appreciated! Thank you **xXxStarStrifexXx, Memory King,** and **Sorrow **for reviewing! I'm glad you like it so far.

I'm in the process of trying to find a beta to go over the last few chapters and the rest of the story. So the next few updates might just be changing the last few to make them more correct. Bear with me please. The next chapter will be huge, and we will finally be getting to the tattoo!

Disclaimer: If I owned it, I wouldn't be putting this here. I'd be publishing it for tons of money.

* * *

Excerpt from "Memorable Muggle Mornings: the Undercover Wizard."

_It is pretty common knowledge that Muggles tend to explain away any oddness with some dull or drab explanation. Even if that explanation is an obvious stretch of the truth. What did surprise me, however, is the outcome of several of my talks about my Muggle experiences with my wizard acquaintances. Wizards are just as likely to think nothing of the odd things Muggles do without seeking the real meaning!_

* * *

It was bothering Harry. How most of the things he read over the next few weeks seemed to resonate inside his mind. Like when he read about the floo network and he got a brief image of green flames, even though he didn't find out till two books later that floo flames were not normal colored, but green from flame protection spells in the floo powder. It made his head hurt.

Then one day, when he was looking over the objects that had been collected, he picked up a clear glass ball whose effects had yet to be determined: and it had swirled with cloudy colors that slowly turned red! He quickly put it down, and from that day on avoided the room unless totally necessary. The things in that room just made him feel… like a freak again. He was only just now starting to fit in with the other boys, and he didn't want to lose the only friends he'd made by doing something weird.

By the end of his second month with the group he had finally finished ready the materials deemed "necessary" and had discussed them with the other boys. They all had different opinions on their "mission". Were these people hiding from greed, as Mr. Steel seemed to think… or to protect something? Rick seemed to be of the opinion that the government was working with them, and that all the things they were protecting were probably rare and almost extinct. When he got to that part Mike interrupted him with "explain the dragon population records in that big black book…. Nothing there hints at any threat of extinction!"

Kerr told him to keep his mind open. Every discovery brought up new challenges and ideas and information about these 'Wizards'.

Finally he was told that he could begin to search himself. He would be escorted just like Tiny to several places they'd found where 'Magical' things tended to be left. They were all near heavily trafficked areas by the 'Wizards'. Harry was excited and more then a little nervous. He'd been warned way more then once about not getting caught, and to always avoid the lasers that the Wizards could shoot from their stick-guns called Wands.

* * *

"You ready?" Kerr smiled. It was around eleven at night.

"I get to go with you?" Harry was sure he would be paired with one of the other boys. Kerr always seemed so busy, much to busy to escort the newest recruit around town.

"Yep. I like to go out with ya'll the first time, make sure you know how to do this the right way. Now, what are the three rules?"

"Be Quick, Quiet, and don't get caught!" Harry chirped, adopting Mike's sneer. Kerr laughed.

"That's right. Now, look at the map. We are going to the far side, gonna check around a bit from the roof of this building here, then we approach from this back alley. You will be my lookout when I check the back. We haven't been here in a while since Rick thinks he was spotted last time. There is sure to be something there that we can use. Now what do you remember about this site?"

Harry looked at the map, searched his memory, and then replied hesitantly.

"We think it is some form of hotel for their kind, with entrances to two protected areas that might be a bookstore and a candy store based on the items we have found."

Kerr nodded. "Exactly" then pointed to two grayed out areas adjacent to the site. "Now just as a reminder if we get separated... Don't go near these two alleys, both have memory buffets that will send you back to base with no idea you ever went out again."

Harry nodded, he had already memorized the various 'memory buffets' but he appreciated Kerr's reminder.

"Well, lets head out."

* * *

Harry hadn't been outside the building for more then a brief walk since he first joined the group. It was dark outside, with the streetlights casting bright spots along the highways. Mostly, they stuck to back alleys. Harry tried to hold the map in his mind as they went along, keeping track of where they were. It took almost an hour of fast jogging to get there. Kerr motioned up a ladder in front of an old brown building and he quickly followed him up to the roof. They looked down into an oddly normal alley behind another old building.

"Now we have a specific route to get down there. Down the ladders on this side, then we crawl behind those two bins. You then wait there and make the signal if you see anyone, and I mean anyone, come out of that building." Kerr whispered close to Harry's ear. The signal was an owl hoot, which Mr. Steel figured was perfectly ironic considering the peoples frequent mention of "owl post".

Harry then carefully and quietly followed Kerr down into the pitch-black darkness. It was slow going, and at times it became hard to see where the next step was. When the finally reached the bottom Harry was shaking slightly as they ducked behind the dumpsters. Kerr made eye contact and nodded. Harry nodded back and sat back on his heels as Kerr quickly sprinted across to the other side of the alley and crouched down to look through the boxes stacked up behind the building.

They had explained the process to him. When they had first started the search in teams, they had gone through garbage. This was an extremely hard way to find anything, because as they had found out, the Wizards would fine anyone who threw away magical artifacts where normal people might find them. It was a streak of luck when, several years ago, a boy had noticed a strange occurrence. At exactly eleven o'clock a pile of boxes appeared from thin air behind a known site. Once the boy told Mr. Steel about this, the boys were sent to watch the sites one by one all night to see if this was a one-time occurrence. It wasn't.

Between eleven and one o'clock, several times a week, boxes would appear from thin air at many of the locations. In the early hours of the morning someone would come out, grab the boxes, and take them inside. Eventually Mr. Steel, after observing the phenomenon for himself, came to several conclusions. Apparently a creature that could fly, but that they themselves could not see, delivered the boxes. While this creature had the boxes in its possession, they couldn't see the boxes either. However, as soon as the creatures dropped off the boxes, they became visible. To the causal observer this could easily be explained away as not noticing the boxes were there in the first place. You would have to know, and be looking, to even notice at all.

As for what this creature was, well they weren't sure. There was no way they could use normal owls as they implied… unless there really was magic. How could they train them where to go? Mr. Steel was of the opinion that they were either some form of robot, or merely some type of portal. Harry, who kept getting an image of a small striped grey owl with glowing yellow eyes named "Flu-fle", liked to think they really were trained owls. It was much more cool then super robots.

Ever since making this discovery the Steel Wings had became much more prosperous. They had found dozens more artifacts by merely stealing a box or two every once and a while and taking them to Mr. Steel. As long as they were careful and didn't take from the same place too often, they were relatively sure not to get caught. And as Mike said, it sure beat going through dumpsters.

Harry watched as Kerr picked a smaller box, about palm sized, then another rectangular one before stuffing them in his backpack and hurrying back. On their long way back to base his thoughts were full of what new discovery they might have made.

* * *

"Candy?" Harry was thoroughly disappointed.

"Yep. And unfortunately one we've already seen before." Kerr announced, putting the rectangular box aside and beginning to open the smaller one. Harry looked at the candy. "Bertie Bott's _Every Flavor Beans. _Doesn't sounds very magical to me."

"Oh it is! When they say every flavor they really mean it! Tiny got one that he swears tasted like cat food. We all know to stay away from that stuff. Though Mr. Steel likes to eat them. Says he got a 'most wondrous cheesecake flavor' one once."

"Not worth it to me! I got one that tasted like old lettuce." Mike entered the room and slumped into a chair.

"Anything good?"

"Not sure…." Kerr was squinting down at the small box.

"This looks like some sort of jewelry, maybe earrings. We'd better wait for Mr. Steel to look it over first." Kerr answered Harry's confused expression.

"We've found that a lot of jewelry does odd things when we touch it. Some of them give you bad headaches or rashes. One burnt up Luke, a boy that used to be here, very badly. Its better to wait and carefully examine it first when Mr. Steel is here in case anything goes wrong. He knows more about this stuff then we do."

"How?" Harry asked. "I thought you and Mike and Rick all have seen the other stuff."

"Naw, not really. Some of the books only Mr. Steel has seen. And if he doesn't think we should see it, I believe him. Some of the things we have found… well, they just FEEL evil."

"Oh" Harry mumbled, and felt another echo in his mind. Evil.

It was late at night, almost two o'clock, and Kerr ushered Harry and Mike to bed.

"Harry, sleep as long as you want tomorrow. I doubt Mister will look at the jewelry until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest."

Harry nodded then trudged to bed. He knew he needed to do some work in the shop tomorrow too, they had just got an rush order in for another whole dining room set, and they would need all the boys working on it to get it finished in time. He might as well sleep as long as possible since he was banned from building anything until he was able to get some glasses. His job would be to stain the finished wood.

* * *

The jewelry ended up being nothing special. Mr. Steel could find nothing in the least unique about it.

"Plain old earrings." He had announced after studying it for some time. "We could probably resell it for some extra cash, these look to be real stones." He handed the box to Kerr, who looked at Harry then back to Mr. Steel.

"Think they might carry the cost of getting Harry to the eye doctor?" Harry stared at Kerr in complete surprise before turning back to Mr. Steel.

"Hm, hm, well, perhaps. Got to sell them first!" Mr. Steel chuckled. Harry felt himself about to burst with excitement as he followed Kerr from the room.

"Would you really? Give the money for my glasses?" Harry blurted. Kerr smiled.

"Sure thing. Cant have my lookout being blind, now can I?" He laughed. "And plus, I have a feeling you will more then pay me back later on. Now go on up stairs while I run over to the pawn shop and see if I can figure out a way to get you to a eye doctor."

Harry rushed up the stairs to tell Tiny the good news.

* * *

It took a bit of work, but Kerr was able to find an eye doctor who would check Harry's eyes with no questions asked. At least, that's what he told Harry. He had a feeling that money was probably involved. For all the trouble, the procedure was relatively simple. He merely looked through different lenses till he could clearly read letters on a wall. Once that was done, he and Kerr picked out a simple pair of frames and were told to wait a few minutes till they were done.

When Harry left the store, he felt like a new person. He could see things he hadn't even knew he had missed. There were birds perched on wires across the street, and graffiti splashed across walls. He looked everywhere, taking in the details, until Kerr laughed and told him he looked like his eyes were going to pop out of his head. When they got back to the place, Mike grabbed him and told him to go up and try again to put a chair together.

"Let's see if those fancy glasses of yours were the reason you are so clumsy." Mike grumbled, then sat in a corner to work on an ornate rosewood table. Harry was amazed at how easy it all was. The lines he had sworn hadn't been there spider webbed across the surface in pencil, and it was only a matter of time for him to put the braces into place. When he was done Mike reluctantly nodded and told him he had done a decent job.

"Now run off before I decide you need to stain it too." Harry scampered out, determined that he would see if there was anything he hadn't noticed about this new place he was living in when he didn't have glasses.

When he entered his and Tiny's room, Tiny was sitting on the bed reading a comic book. Tiny looked up and Harry showed him his new glasses.

"Look nice!" Tiny exclaimed, and they talked a bit until Harry noticed that Tiny kept staring at him, and then quickly looking away.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Oh, nothing, its just…"

"Come on, ask."

"Well, normally we don't ask about these things, you know, they are personal. Even Mike doesn't." Tiny mumbled. Harry was confused.

"Ask about WHAT kind of things?"

"Well, you know, scars." Harry suddenly understood, and realized his new glasses probably held his hair to the side, showing the odd scar on his forehead more prominently. Before he could say anything Tiny quickly interrupted.

"You aint gotta tell me anything! We all got 'em, hazard of the streets I guess. And the things that bring you to the streets. It's just, yours looks so… well, I don't know…. Planned. Or like, it was done on purpose, or something. I mean, you know what I mean, its looks like…"

"Lighting. Yeah, I know. I got it…."

"You aint gotta say!" Tiny blurted out. "I shouldn't of asked at all."

"Its ok." Harry reassured him. "I got it before I can remember. My parents died in a car crash, and some how I got this scar when we crashed. I think it was glass." Tiny nodded.

"Yeah, that makes sense. Perfect sense." He nodded then looked hard at his comic book. Harry took the hint and walked back over to his bed. He got the distinct feeling that Tiny didn't believe him in the least. Well, It was the truth. He couldn't remember getting the odd shaped scar, but he had seen glass cut people before, and it usually was jagged shaped. Ah well, it didn't matter. That was years ago, and none of it really mattered today.

* * *

Things changed for Harry after that first time out with Kerr. He was almost drawn to the magical sites, and never got lost finding his way around the city, even when he was separated from Mike one time out. Before he knew it he was the one allowed to creep forward and grab a few boxes, and it only took two such times to figure out that the objects Harry brought back were different..….


	7. Tug and Pull

**Hi all! So sorry for the long wait. College midterms were not fun, and final projects less so. However. I am back! And until Finals roll around I'll be cranking out a few more chapters hopefully.**

**THANK YOU reviewers! You are the reason I keep writing. Please review this chapter and tell me what you think. The more people I know like to read this, the more I am encouraged to keep at it, even if its just one word!**

**Also, still haven't managed to get a beta. Thought I had one, but they stopped responding to my emails so I'm on the hunt again. Please ignore any typos, or better yet, point them out so I can fix them.  
**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

_'String of Missing Objects Reported Throughout London'_

**Daily Prophet, page 3**

By _Gloria Rosehip_

It seems that Owl Post has gotten less reliable lately. Over the last year, reports of missing packages have greatly increased over the London area. Despite the new sticking charms, Owls have been losing packages here and there, at one point as often as five times in one month! This is an outrage to the good witches and wizards of London, who would like to rely on Owl Post.

What is to blame, you ask? The Owls? The Charms? Dark Creatures?

We here at the Daily Prophet are proud to say we have found the cause. Wards! The Ministry has always been fond of boasting on the clear regulations and enforcements regarding wards. However, lately it seems certain wizards of ill repute have been putting up illegal wards left and right. We would like to remind these wizards that Owls are highly sensitive to magical disruptions, and if encountering an unknown ward will occasionally lose their senses and their packages.

If you care for your Owl and your post, you will follow ministry guidelines and report all and any wards you have currently and plan to place in the future. If you have any questions, please see the following question and answer session with Hilda Valesnit of the Department for… (_cont'd page 11c_)

* * *

The objects were reaching out to him.

The first time Harry crept forward he didn't think much of it. He just felt inclined to grab that particular box at the top, and none of the others _felt_ like being worth grabbing. When he got back and opened the box in excitement, he saw a very expensive looking dagger. Two snakes twined around the top, and the hilt was set with bright red rubies. At first he was disappointed, while it looked like it was worth money, it didn't look like Wizard technology. However, when Mr. Steel saw it he practically levitated in excitement.

"Finally! To see one right before my eyes…." Mr. Steel began to reach out, then jerked his hand back.

"No, no, better not." He turned and looked at Harry. For a second he seemed about to say something, perhaps explain the purpose of the dagger.

"This is very, very good, son. Very good! I've been hoping that you boys would find one some day. These daggers were described in great detail in one of the books I have. A dark, dark book, all about Wizarding rituals that use… well, no matter. See these small knobs around the base of the blade and along the dull end? And this tiny snake here, with wings and a mane? Defining features of a ritual blade, very distinctive."

Harry was confused at how this could be useful, but Mr. Steel wasn't very inclined to share any true details about what the blade could do. He wouldn't even touch it, but lifted the whole box up and quickly went back to his office after giving Harry a congratulate smile. Mike sulked in the corner.

"Beginners luck!" He muttered. Kerr gave Mike a glare.

"Don't think I'm going to let you get away with leaving him! You were supposed to wait, and instead you just scampered back here with that big grin on your face. Serves you right that he actually found something." Kerr turned to Harry.

"Beginners luck or not, why don't you go out again tomorrow night, it's about time we revisit another sight over in section seven. Last few times we haven't got anything good, but it's been over a month since we've tried." Harry nodded, feeling butterflies in his stomach. Another time out, and so soon! He was so happy he had managed to actually find something worthwhile to the group.

"Will… Mike be going with me again?" Harry wasn't sure he wanted to trust the surly boy to be his guard after he had already been left once.

"No. Rick will be your watcher. Now off you go to bed!" Kerr dismissed him before turning back to Mike with a scowl.

"This is the last time I'm going to tolerate you…."

Harry closed the door behind him, grinning at the thought of Mike getting a good talking to. The boy seemed to have a grudge against him, and for the life of him he couldn't quite figure out why.

* * *

When Harry slowly approached the pile of boxes, it took him a few seconds to realize that he was being tugged. It was very subtle. It was almost like moving towards one area felt… smoother. As if turning away would make his fingers feel numb, his feet slow and rough. His fingers reached of their own accord for another package, wrapped in crinkly paper and bound about with fraying string. It looked like it had been covered ages ago and put away in storage and forgotten, only to be mailed out as an afterthought.

It looked like pure rubbish. Yet… Harry's eyes began to drift shut, his fingers tightening about the package, his mind drifting to something…. Something right out of reach, something dull and blurry, calling to him, and all he would need to do was say the words and the door would open and he would _see..._

"Harry…. Harry!" Ricks voice whispered fervently from nearby. "Harry! Get back here! Snap out of it!"

Harry dropped the package with a loud thump. Rick cursed and quickly grabbed it (When had he gotten so close?) before turning and scrambling back the way they had come. For a second Harry felt out of breath, before a sound behind him prompted him to run after Rick. He didn't dare look back for fear they had been caught.

When he caught up to Rick a few blocks later the boy was glaring at him.

"What were you thinking? You don't freaking daydream in _their_ territory! _WE_ could have been caught! You better hope this thing is worth something or you are in big trouble!" The boy scowled and turned away. Harry felt his shoulders sag as they returned to the shop. _What had happened?_

* * *

Mr. Steel seemed deep in thought. He had been in the room with the artifacts when they had returned, looking over some books on Wizarding animals to try and find out more about what the winged snake on the dagger was, and whether it was a symbol or an actually living animal.

When Rick saw him he immediately started venting about Harry's mistake. Mr. Steel frowned, and cut him off.

"Let me see this package." Rick frowned and slapped it on the table, earning an angry look. "DO NOT let your anger cause you to damage something that could be of use!"

"That dolt already dropped it! And did I mention we almost got CAUGHT?" Harry suddenly realized that Rick was acting not just out of anger. The boy was deathly afraid, his skin pale and his fingers shaking. Mr. Steel seemed to come to the same conclusion.

"Sit down, Rick. You didn't get caught, or you wouldn't be here now, and especially not with this. Next time, Harry will know to be more careful, and not get over-confident." Harry wanted to deny that, and tell what had really happened to him, but Mr. Steel had already turned back to the package and began removing the paper.

Harry couldn't see what it was at first. Then Mr. Steel carefully lifted it up, and he could make out that it was a crude and roughly circular box. It looked like someone had taken a axe and just hewn the shape out of a piece of wood. It seemed to be stained a dark brown, though in places you could see the lighter more natural wood color underneath.

* * *

Mr. Steel was holding his breath. Was this….? Blood. Yes, what else could it be? It looked like the box had been splattered in blood, over and over, and then left to dry. He had never been gladder to be wearing gloves. Trying to gather his composure, he looked over at the two boys. Rick was still pale, and seemed to have no idea what it was he had carried to the house. Harry… looked like a mixture of confusion, anger, and fear. Mr. Steel wondered if the boy had somehow known what this was. Or perhaps felt it…?

This box had a purpose. A dark one. And was it any coincidence that Harry, on his first two tries, had brought back two of the darkest objects yet? First that dagger, meant to be used in various blood rituals. Ones that often involved unwilling donors. Now, this box, and who knew what was inside it? He certainly wasn't going to open it in front of the two boys, he had learned to err on the side of caution, and both looked scared enough as it was.

After he sent the two away, with a long look at Harry, he carefully rewrapped the box and took it through his office into the back room where he kept the more dangerous objects.

When he had first started his research, he had been afraid. Afraid of these people with their technology and secrets. Over the years he had learned of all the wonderful things they seemed capable of. Healing bones in seconds, creating beautiful moving pieces of art, Spells to do every household chore, Animals whose fur and feathers could create potions to become invisible, to fly, to walk on water… the options were endless. It seemed there was nothing they were not capable of. However, he had also learned of things that made his previous fear seem like a child's fear of the dark. Curses to make ones skin boil, bones vanish, heart stop. Objects whose touch brought death. Rituals to destroy enemy's minds or to make one have the strength of a hundred men.

It seemed for every beautiful thing these Wizards created, there were a dozen ways to turn it to evil purposes. He had begun to keep these dark things separate from the younger boys, not wanting to taint them with the darkness, letting them see the wonders instead. In his heart he had begun to wonder if it would do more damage to the human race to expose these monsters. If a few miracle cures were worth the price. If a man could buy a cure for blindness… could he not also purchase a potion to create it?

Over and over, after he opened the bloody box and calmly cataloged the grisly objects within, the question repeated in his mind. Was it worth it?

* * *

Things began to change. At first, for the better. It didn't take long at all for the other boys to realize that Harry had a knack for finding magical objects. Luckily for him, they were not always artifacts that Mr. Steel took away to the back room.

The third object he found was a miniature red bird in a beautiful silver cage, about the size of a man's fist. The small bird within would sing songs whenever a light was turned on, and seemed to give off a peaceful aura. Mr. Steel explained that it was a Wizarding child's toy, often kept above toddler's bed to make them laugh. It didn't have to be fed or watered like a normal bird, and the boys couldn't find any switch or batteries that operated it.

"Magic." Tiny proudly proclaimed after another attempt to find a power source failed. Mike wanted to bust the bird open to see what it looked like inside, but Rick shook his head.

"That would be a shame. Its so pretty." Mike rolled his eyes and frowned. Kerr laughed.

"You cant do that, cause Tiny already asked if he could have it. He wants to keep it in his room, and Mr. Steel said it wasn't a problem."

"YES!" Tiny exclaimed, and grabbed the cage before trotting to his room to hang it up. Harry shook his head, imagining listening to bird song all day long. It was a good day.

* * *

It had been over a year since Mr. Steel and the group had taken him in. Harry knew, in the back of his head, that he should be about nine and a half years old now. The other boys never celebrated birthdays, so Harry never really felt like mentioning it when his rolled around at the end of July. Instead, the boys celebrated every time they brought back something that was worthwhile to Mr. Steel.

Almost every time, when it was Harry's turn to creep forward to steal a box, he would feel steered to a certain area. Every time this happened the object was magical. Harry began to separate different tugs as well, and by the time three months had gone by he could tell different types of tugs. If numb fingers accompanied the tug, it was dark. If it was a very light tug, it usually led to a toy or some sort of candy. If it felt like a heavy, dull tug it was something that contained a powerful spell like the dagger. Sometimes he would feel more then one tug and could choose which one to follow. Sometimes a tug could feel like more then one sensation, which could mean it was an innocent toy with a powerful spell on it, or a book that contained a dark aura. Even so, it was always a surprise to find out what he had taken that day.

Though he was often tempted to explain the weird feelings to the other boys and Mr. Steel, something always held him back. What if they thought that he had been corrupted by one of the artifacts? Or if a Wizard had somehow gotten a hold of him and cursed him? Harry just shrugged when they asked him about it, and told them it must be luck. Eventually the boys stopped asking how. Harry was glad they hadn't started asking _why_. Would he always be a freak, just like his Uncle said?

Not all of the boys were happy with Harry's talent. Mike seemed to get angrier every time, and had gone from tolerant to downright jealous and spiteful. Rick also wasn't entirely happy with Harry's success, feeling that the boy must be using some trick that he refused to share with the others. It came to a head when Kerr called them together to make an announcement.

The boys were all sitting down around the table in the kitchen. Kerr stood up, then asked Harry and Tiny to come over. "Mr. Steel has informed me that you two have about earned your first wing." Harry was speechless. He remembered when he first came to the gang and finding out about their tattoos. It had all seemed so unattainable back then.

"Don't we get our first one after a solo assignment?" Tiny asked from next to him. Harry felt his joy sink a little. Figures they would have to go through a test first.

"Usually yes. However, Mr. Steel doesn't want us going out alone anymore. Haven't really needed to split up anyway, with Harry here bringing in so much." Kerr smiled at Harry. Mike and Rick both frowned.

"Tiny has been doing a wonderful job too, of course. It is actually past time for him to get his, but we figured you two could both get them done the same day." Tiny nodded, but Harry could tell that he would have rather gotten his done separately. Though the boy never acted it, Harry could tell that Tiny felt a little bit left behind.

"We will all be going with you two to get it done next Saturday, after midnight. Mr. Steel has a man that does it for us. He did all of ours." Kerr gestured to Mike and Rick. Neither of them looked happy. At least not for Harry. Both seemed genuine as they congratulated Tiny, but were sharp and brisk with Harry.

"So Skinny here will be a 'Wing. How ironic." Mike muttered under his breath to Rick. Before Harry could turn and look back at him, Kerr spoke up.

"We'll have to go the back ways, don't want to attract any attention." Kerr then began to explain the route they would take, and some basics about how to take care of tattoos after getting them. By the time Kerr was done, all the boys were ready for bed, and Harry had forgot about Mike's comment.

When Harry and Tiny finally went back to their room that night, it was hard to get to sleep.

"You think it will hurt much Harry?" Tiny asked. Before he could even answer Tiny continued.

"I wonder if we will ever get our second wing? You think so? How long you think before the tattoo heals and we can show it off? I hate that we have to keep it bandaged for a week, and rub that smelly stuff on it. Kerr sure does care a lot about infection, I bet no ones ever had any trouble before. I bet…."

Harry tuned Tiny out. His own thoughts were a world away. For him, the tattoo represented that he was finally going to be fully accepted into the Steel Wings. It wouldn't matter that Mike and Rick didn't like him as much; he would be one of them now. Maybe he could spend the rest of his life here, helping Mr. Steel research the odd and mysterious Wizards. Maybe one day he and Mr. Steel could expose them to the world, and then he, Harry, would be a _hero_!


	8. Before the Fall

_**Reviewers are Greatly appreciated! Blame the delay on my wedding, and this chapter being accidentally deleted not once, but twice. Needless to say, I now use Google Documents for everything. Please please please, if you know a reliable beta, send them my way. I've had two so far bail on me that I found on the beta search on fanficton . net, and several who just never answered me back when I asked if they could do it. I really need someone to go over all the chapters and help me with grammar, mine is atrocious. Hope you like this!  
**_

_Disclaimer: If I owned it, I wouldn't be putting this here. I'd be publishing it for tons of money._

* * *

_Excerpts from_ **"Before the Fall: Dark Days"**

_"The Aurors were getting desperate. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's forces were getting stronger every day. Several Aurors came up with research on how to utilize the Dark Mark against the Deatheaters..._

_….it has become well known recently that whenever He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named became angry, the Deatheaters who bore the mark would flinch as their mark began to pinch. It would burn fiercely whenever they were summoned to a meeting. It could be used against the Deatheaters by the Dark Lord as a means of discipline for failure. At that time, Aurors noticed the phenomenon on captured prisoners, and began to assign men to monitor anywhere wizards congregated, like Diagon Alley. They were to watch the crowd from above, then report any disturbances that multiple persons had at the same time, like grabbing their arms simultaneously. They were to immediately apprehend these subjects for investigation..._

_...The success rate of this technique was phenomenal, and resulted in many captures in the weeks before The Fall. It illustrates yet another example of the unintended consequences of wizarding tattoos..._

* * *

The trip seemed to take forever. Harry was so excited it was hard for him to concentrate on where he was going, and before long he had no idea where they were in the city. They went through alleys, over roofs, and across roads. He was almost convinced that they were taking a long and winding route for just the purpose of not being able to remember how they got here. Kerr seemed to walk confidently though, and Harry could imagine he had been here many times before. When they finally came to a stop before a dark warehouse looking apartment building, Kerr turned to them.

"Be careful, and do not ask questions. He will not give his name, so do not bother giving yours. He knows two are getting one wing a piece, and he has the sizes and details. Tiny, you go first. Remember all we talked about? Relax and think of something else. Do not forget to breathe." With a reassuring nod to Tiny and Harry, he climbed the steps and entered a dimly lit hallway. They went up several floors using the back stairs, before stopping at room 47. Kerr had barely knocked twice before a man opened the door and quickly beckoned them in.

The man looked malnourished with a sickly tint to his skin, but the apartment itself looked surprisingly clean and well-kept. The furniture was all nice and the floors were carpeted. It did not seem to belong to this type of apartment building or this man. They entered a side room, what used to be a bedroom by the design of it. In the middle was a bench like-chair, and Tiny quickly walked over to it and lay down on his stomach like the Kerr had told him to do. The man smiled slightly, before beginning to lay out various tools. Harry felt a poke, and turned to see Mike beckoning at him to sit down in some chairs lined up on the side of the room.

Harry felt nervous just watching the man get ready, but Tiny seemed comfortable. He barely flinched as the man began cleaning his shoulder where the tattoo was to go with anti-bacterial lotion. The man muttered "Ready?" and then slowly began to outline the design. It must have taken at least an hour, but the time flew. Harry heard a soft word spoken every once in a while, but other then that they were all quiet. It amazed Harry that the man barely spoke at all, other then a direction every once in a while to relax.

Suddenly the man leaned back and stretched out his arms. "I'm done here. I'll be back in a few minutes to do the next one." With that he walked from the room and Harry heard a door shut somewhere else in the apartment. Tiny slowly sat up.

"Does it look okay?" He asked, trying to look over his shoulder.

"Dimwit, we can't see it. He already bandaged it for the night. Saves us the trouble, don't want you bleeding all over your shirt." Mike scoffed.

"Oh. I didn't even feel him do that. He is fast." Tiny looked at Harry. " It wasn't bad at all! It tickled a little, and it hurt bad at first, but after a while you kind of get numb to it." He smiled. "I cant wait to see it tomorrow!"

The man abruptly walked into the room and Tiny scampered off the bench and over to an empty chair. Harry slowly stood up and walked nervously over to the bench. For a moment he forgot how he was supposed to sit. Mike snickered and Harry felt a flash of anger. Why did that boy have to be so, so, _contentious_! Yeah, that was the word.

Harry took off his shirt and lay down, but flinched when he felt a cold hand touch his shoulder.

"Relax." The man muttered. Harry found himself holding his breath and let it out in a whoosh. Why was this so hard? He did not want the others to see him scared, but something about the thought of a needle cutting his skin was hard to handle. Harry tried to think of something else. It was hard to concentrate with the man moving tools about, and he could almost hear Mike whispering something to Tiny, and soft laughter. He flinched again at another touch, and the man made an annoyed sound. Harry tried to hold still. What was he supposed to think about?

Tattoos. No, that thought would only lead to needles. He was getting a wing on his shoulder. A steel wing to represent the group and Mr. Steel. It was a symbol of pride, and family. Do wizards make wings to fly around on? The thought seemed to pop out of nowhere, and Harry latched on to it. Mr. Steel had mentioned broomsticks though, so they probably did not. Harry felt a sharp pain and desperately tried to think of something else. Wizards. They could do anything it seemed like. Harry bet they could make wings if they wanted too. What would having wings be like? To be able to fly wherever you wanted. Why, if he had wings he would even be able to easily get away from any attacks, even from wizards! And if they were steel wings, they would surely be able to reflect back any odd laser-spells the wizards shot at him.

Harry began to warm up to his daydream. Steel wings would be so awesome! Would they be heavy? Steel is pretty heavy, but really strong. If he had wings though he would have to be strong enough to use them. How would that work? Harry felt himself starting to drift off, the pain in his shoulder dulling as continuous pressure was applied.

If wizards attacked him he could just fly away. Or maybe even attack them! Steel feathers would be sharp, deadly. He closed his eyes, trying to picture it. They had spotted him stealing a package from a doorway. He saw them pointing their laser-sticks ans quickly climbed up a ladder to the rooftop, the men fast behind him. When the wizards reached the top he would swoop down and...

_But there was another wizard suddenly behind him. He felt dread come over him. The dark figure paced towards him slowly, looming over him. Red eyes seemed to glisten from underneath the hood, and Harry heard a phantom scream from all around him, a woman's shrill voice. Before he could make out the words, the man began to speak in a sibilant voice._

_**"You will never defeat me."**_

_The voice pierced him like a knife, and Harry could see a green light gathering between himself and the dark wizard. In slow motion Harry turned and ran towards the edge of the roof, desperate to get away from the green light, terror filling him. If it touched him, surely it would, would, what? His forehead burned and he thrust himself off the roof, plummeting down towards the ground. Suddenly he remembered: He had wings! Of course! He spread them out and caught the wind, angling up and away from the building._

_He was flying through a cloudy dark space. Was he high up? It seemed he could almost see his reflection in the clouds. He began to descend, spiraling down slowly, enjoying the freedom of flight. He forgot all about his terror earlier with the wizard, and instead lost himself in the feeling of being aloft in the air._

_He landed with a slow jog onto soft green grass. The sun seemed to be shining all of a sudden, and he could almost hear the sounds of a breeze moving through trees. He turned to see better when he was abruptly faced with a mirror. In it he saw himself with two majestic wings spread out behind him. They were steel grey with black markings running along the feathers. When he began to fold them mostly the black seemed to show, and as he stood there, idly moving his wings he felt an odd sensation deep in his chest. He closed his eyes, wondering, and could almost see what looked like a bright glowing sphere. It was made up of millions of tiny strands of light._

_From the sphere more tiny strings seemed to run throughout his body. The barely gave off any light except where the gathered in his hands and forehead. As he stood there, he could feel the sphere pulsing in time with his heart, and when he took a breath it seemed to expand then contract again as he breathed out. Was he seeing his heart? Where the strands of light blood pulsing through his veins? Suddenly the light shifted and Harry felt a pull in his chest cut off his air for a second. Another pull. The sphere seemed to be shifting back slightly. Then strands of light began to unravel from the sphere and move towards his back._

_They pooled for a moment at where his wings met his skin. Then with a quick rush that felt like the air being pulled from his lungs the strands expanded through his wings. They moved into every bone, every muscle, every feather. Even the very tines that made up each feather began to glow. Harry could not breathe. The sphere of light was getting smaller and smaller, beating slower and slower. Was he going to die? The light inside his chest dulled to almost non-existence and Harry felt as if he was about to lose something precious, something that made him who he was. Then the pulling stopped and he could breathe again._

_He sucked in air in quick gasps, and saw that the light had stopped spreading through his wings. It hovered for a second, glowing, before beginning to retreat back inside him. The wings went with them. At first the wings, outlined in bright shining light, curled around his body, covering him from head to toe. Then they began to get smaller and smaller, turning completely to light as it reentered his body. The light-wings were so small Harry could barely see any details at all, only the barest impression of feathers on wing shaped objects. They seemed to now furl around the sphere of light, and for a second resembled a winged ball which sent an odd echo of memory through Harrys mind._

_Then they were gone. All that remained was the sphere, now pulsing on time with his heart. Harry opened his eyes, once more faced with his reflection. The wings were gone as if they had never been there. Harry abruptly staggered as something pushed him in his shoulder. He spun around, only to see nothing. A sudden sharp pain on his cheek made him angrily open his mouth to shout..._

And saw Mike's grinning face.

* * *

A dream. It had only been a dream. The other boys, even Kerr, teased him unmercifully about falling asleep while getting his tattoo done. Even the man grinned before ushering them out of the apartment. Harry felt at a loss. How could it of been a dream? It had felt so real.

The journey back was just as winding as the one there, but they took a different path back that didn't involve as much climbing.

"Don't want to stretch out those new tattoos do we?" Kerr laughed. Tiny seemed to be on an emotional high, talking over and over to the others about how he could not wait to see his tattoo the next day. Finally Mike gave Tiny a playful shove and said in a not-so-playful voice. "Enough already." Harry sighed, which attracted Mike's attention.

"What, not happy with your little wing, Skinny?" Mike sneered at him. He wanted to snap something back at him, but lost the energy. He felt as if he had run a long-distance race over bad ground.

"Leave me alone." He muttered, and Mike laughed.

"_Oooh_, leave me alone." He mimicked in a whiny voice. "Try not to fall asleep on us! _Ha ha ha ha_."

"Oh stop it, Mike. It's late." Rick spoke up. Rick has been silent most of the trip, and seemed to be deep in thought. Mike just shrugged and turned away.

By the time they got back to Mr. Steel's place, the sun was just beginning to rise. Kerr quietly told Tiny and him to go to bed, before staying behind to murmur something to the boys. Harry was too tired to care to try and eaves-drop. He fell into bed with barely a pause to undress, and was asleep before his head touched the pillow.

He dreamed of flying.

* * *

When Harry woke up he felt as if something was holding him down to the bed. He was so tired! Just the thought of walking down the stairs to eat breakfast made him wince. What was he going to do?

"Get down here or you aren't eating!" Ricks voice echoed up the stairs. Harry heard Tiny grown and turn over, then yelp and sit up.

"_Ouch_!" Tiny wrinkled his nose. "That hurts more then I thought it was. It's sore. Yours feel sore?"

Harry turned over and sat up, stretching his arms a bit. "Yeah, my whole back feels like sore."

Tiny shook his head. "My whole back doesn't feel sore, but the right side does that's for sure!"

Harry stood up and carefully began to get dressed. Tiny began to bubble in excitement.

"You think we can see them? What time is it? Got to be way pass breakfast by now! They said tonight right? Right?" Tiny seemed to have gotten over any soreness he felt as he quickly rushed downstairs to find out. Harry just sighed sighed and sat back on the bed. He raised a hand to his chest and massaged a bit, circling his solar plexus. What was that feeling? He felt stretched thin, or oddly out of shape and short of breath.

"Come on, Harry! They said after we eat!" Tiny's voice drifted into the room, and Harry reluctantly stood up. He hoped it didn't do this the next time he got a tattoo, it was miserable!

As he limped downstairs he was met with the sight of the boys eating dinner with Mr. Steel. He immediately stood up straighter and tried to act like he wasn't hurting that bad. Mr. Steel smiled at him.

"There you are! We were beginning to wonder if you were hungry. Sit down, sit down. It's already dinner time!" Mr. Steel pointed to a chair, and Harry caught an odd look. Mr. Steel seemed to be disappointed in something. Throughout the meal Harry noticed Mr. Steel staring at him. Harry ate slowly, hunched over, and tried to just disappear, but the boys kept asking him questions and talking loudly. He was beginning to get a serious headache, and really wanted to go back to bed for the next few years.

"Okay, I'm done! Can I take the bandage off now?" Tiny burst out finally. "Please?"

Laughter filled the room. It seemed everyone was enjoying themselves but Harry. What was wrong? Abruptly he knew he needed to get out of the room. He stood up, his chair scraping loudly. Before anyone could ask him what was wrong, he muttered "Bathroom", and walked quickly down the hall. He closed the door to the bathroom behind him, and leaned over the sink. When he looked into the mirror, he was struck by something missing. Wings.

That stupid dream! Every time he closed his eyes he could see the image burned into his mind. Two steel-grey wings, run through with strands of light. In his dream those lights had taken the wings away. He was suddenly struck by the odd idea that maybe, just maybe, those lights could bring them back. A knock out of the door struck him out of his wild thoughts.

"You alright in there, Harry? Hmm?" It was Mr. Steel. Harry suddenly realized that his thoughts were madness. What was he trying to do? Turn himself into a wizard? He shook his head at himself and opened the door to look into Mr. Steel's concerned eyes.

"I'm fine, just a little sore from last night. I'm sure it will go away soon." Even to himself Harry's voice sounded weak.

"Oh, no doubt it will. Well, do not worry about the boys. They like to tease, but at heart you are part of the family now. Come in to the living room, Tiny is showing off his mark, and everyone wants to see yours too." This last was said with a deep, piercing look. Mr. Steel looked like he was about to say something more, but instead turned away and gestured towards the other room. Harry followed him, still confused and off-balance. He could not get rid of the feeling that everything had changed while he was sleeping, and that Mr. Steel had an inkling why.

* * *

Tiny's tattoo was a perfect replica of the other boys. The single wing was gracefully angled across his right shoulder, and each feather was carefully detailed. Something seemed off about it though, and Harry quickly saw why. The wing did not match the one he imagined himself having in his dream. There were no black marks running the length of the feathers, and the size was off. This wing was overly simplified, almost like it was more of the idea of how a wing should look, rather then a picture of an actual wing. The secondary feathers were much too short, and there was no alula, or wrist feathers, at all. This was _not_ a wing that could bear a person in flight. You would fall from the sky! Harry found himself horrified at the thought, and quickly shook his head. This was not the time to be daydreaming.

"Harry? Something wrong?" Kerr asked, and Harry saw Mr. Steel quickly turn out of the corner of his eye.

"Oh, no, nothing is wrong. I'm just feeling a bit under the weather. I think I'm going to go upstairs." Before he could even turn Mike quickly slid forward and grabbed him.

"Oh, no, you are not! We get to see your pretty little wing first." Mike smiled maliciously, and Kerr nodded.

"The bandage needs to be changed. There is always a little blood the first night, and you do not want to get any type of infection from leaving it on too long." Kerr beckoned Harry closer, and he reluctantly began to pull of his shirt. It was not till he turned around to let Kerr take off the bandage that he realized something was wrong. All the talking in the room had stopped. Even Tiny was quiet. He began to turn back around to see what was wrong when Kerr stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Mike, you were watching, right? Harry was only given one tattoo. Harry, what did you do?"

Harry was confused. Kerr had not even taken the bandage off. What on earth was he talking about.

"What do you mean?"

"Harry, you have a tattoo on your left shoulder as well. And its different than ours." Kerr's voice sounded odd. Harry wished he would let him turn around so he could see his face.

"What do you mean? I only got the tattoo last night. It is a wing, right?"

"Little liar! I bet he snuck out last night to try and get one-up on us! No wonder he is so tired." Mike grumbled.

"Of course it is a wing, Harry, its just shaped and colored a bit differently then ours. And its, well, bigger." Kerr was interrupted by Mike.

"That's probably because he couldn't remember what it was supposed to look like! The little brat!"

"Now here, boys, I'm sure there is a perfectly good explanation for this. Come here, Harry. Rick, go get a mirror for us please, meet us in the bathroom." Mr. Steel said quietly. Harry finally got a good look at the other boys. Tiny looked furious and Kerr looked disappointed. Mr. Steel was oddly calm. Mike acted like it was Christmas, the boy-who-could-do-no-wrong was finally in trouble.

When Harry got to the bathroom, Mr. Steel had him turn around and look into a hand mirror so he could see his back in the bathroom mirror. It was his wing. Exactly, in every detail, down to the very last feather. It stretched from the top of his neck all the way down the left side of his back, ending barely above the waistband of his pants. It was smaller then the ones he had in his dream by quite a bit, but still! How had this happened. His mind could not comprehend it.

Mr. Steel reached up and carefully peeled off the bandage on his right side to reveal another wing just like the one on his left side.

"Impossible! I saw it, it was just like ours last night! I swear!" Tiny burst out. "I was watching close!"

Mr. Steel shook his head and began to walk out of the crowded bathroom and back into the living room. Harry was desperate. What had happened? Was he still dreaming? Harry quickly followed Mr. Steel into the larger room.

"Sir, I'm sorry! I don't know what happened, I promise!" Harry burst out.

"Oh you are getting it good now! Hey maybe he will get kicked out." The last Mike whispered to Rick just loud enough for Harry to hear it. Harry felt his heart begin beating fast. It was a disaster! Mr. Steel said nothing, just shook his head. He looked overwhelmed.

They were going to make him leave, Harry was sure of it now. None of the other boys would stick up for him if they thought he did this on purpose. The tattoo was supposed to be a special symbol that was earned, not just some trivial mark. They thought he had cheated, and probably stole some money to pay for it. Oh, how he wished he could just fly away like he had in his dream!

At that thought something entirely odd happened. His heart seemed to skip a beat, then began to race. He breath caught and he was pushed forward. His back itched fiercely then there was a sharp, burning pain that ended as quickly as it had come. Harry abruptly realized that he had fell to his hands and knees. He slowly stood up, feeling lighter, and finally pain-free for the first time since last night. When he shakily looked at the other boys, he was greeted with looks of shock. Mr. Steel's was the only one who looked like he knew what was happening, but he also seemed amazed that it had.

"What's wrong?" Harry whispered. There was no answer right away, then Mr. Steel stood up and approached him. Mr. Steel walked carefully, looking at something over Harry's head. Harry turned to see what could possibly be wrong, only to hear a chhhing sound, like the scrape of metal on metal. Before he could turn farther, Mr. Steel spoke.

"Oh, child. I've been waiting for this for so _long_, hoping." He shook his head as if ashamed at himself. "Look over your shoulder, slowly. Try not to turn. _Do not panic._" That did not sound reassuring. Harry did as he asked. And they were there. Just like he dreamt, just like he imagined. They were huge, easily twice the size of his body. How? Two metal wings, seeming to merge with the skin on his back. He twitched his shoulders, could feel how they were attached. It was like suddenly having two extra arms and no idea how to make them move. How do you twitch fingers you've never had before?

"Harry." Mr. Steel breathed. He turned and looked into the face of the older man.

"How, sir? _Why? _I don't understand..." Harry rambled. He knew he was supposed to be panicking, knew he would when the shock wore off. "_How?_"

Mr. Steel spoke quietly, calmly, his eyes seeming to communicate that everything would be alright.

"You are a _wizard_, Harry."


	9. Phoenix

This is to all those who keep on hoping that I will update. I know you all have waited a long time.

Well, two years in fact.

My life has changed. I have graduated college with a masters, gotten married to a wonderful man, started a new job, and had a bouncing baby boy.

I now finally have time to sit down and work on this story. This is a notice: THIS STORY WILL BE DELETED IN ONE MONTH. Why? Because you all will finally get your wish.

Steel Wings is being edited, and expanded, in a new story: With Strength of Steel Wings. This first chapter is up. The first three chapters will be mostly old content, with a few new scenes added in. I have five chapters written and waiting for editing and uploading. I do not have internet at home and so must use the work computer to actually upload the story. This will hopefully be done one chapter per week.

I know this has been long in coming. I do apologize, but life has a way of sweeping you off your feet. I also know that this new story will be much better writing. I will not rush updates, but will make sure it is good quality writing. Chapters will be longer as well. I do have a family now, and my own responsibilities. I hope this new story will be a success despite my bust schedule.

Give a dog a bone: review my other story. Tell me if you like it. Tell me if you hate it. Tell me if you wish I would of stayed in the hole I crawled out of.

I love you all.

Goodbye


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